King of Greed (Kings of Sin #3) by Ana Huang

The hammer of my pulse caused my veins to hurt.

I’d planned to do exactly what he suspected. I would walk out, sign the deal, and hunt down whoever was behind tonight. I wouldn’t rest until they were dead, every single one of them.

“It’s a bank.” Roman kept his gaze on mine. “One bank. Is it worth what you might lose?”

The hammering intensified.

It should’ve been a no-brainer. Give up the deal and live without looking over my shoulder every day. But the DBG buyout wasn’t about one bank. It was about the culmination of everything I’d tried to do since I was old enough to realize I didn’t have to stay in my shithole town.

No one had ever bought a bank this size before the age of thirty-five. I’d be the first. It would be a fuck you to every naysayer I’d encountered and every teacher who said I would amount to nothing. No matter what happened after, it’d ensure I go down in the history books.

Immortalized. Unerasable.

It would be security and my legacy.

I wasn’t afraid of Roman’s mysterious backer; I had my own connections and enough money to bury them alive. But winning wasn’t guaranteed, and I wasn’t the only one at risk.

How much was I willing to gamble to achieve everything I’d ever wanted?

“The ball’s in your court, Dom,” Roman said, his voice low. “What will you choose? Your legacy or our lives?”





CHAPTER 42



Alessandra




HE NEVER SHOWED.

The party wrapped up early because of an impending thunderstorm that drove people home before they got caught in the flash flood, but I didn’t mind. The grand opening was already a smashing success, and I’d exhausted my social battery for the night.

Plus, it was hard to smile and pretend nothing was wrong when my heart was breaking before it fully healed.

“Maybe he got in an accident,” Isabella said. “He could be in the hospital right now, trying to tear off his IV so he can run out and see you. I’m sure he didn’t forget.”

“Isa.” Vivian glared at her. “Don’t joke about something like that.”

“What? Stranger things have happened.” Isabella drew her bottom lip between her teeth. “I don’t buy that Dominic forgot or chose not to come. Not after everything he did to win Alessandra back.”

“You two.” Sloane pointed at Dante and Kai, who froze in unison. No one wanted to be the target of her ire. “Where’s your friend?”

“He hasn’t answered our calls.” Kai recovered first and gave me a reassuring smile. “I’m sure he’s on his way. He probably got held up.”

“Or mugged,” Dante said. He shrugged when Vivian redirected her death stare at him. “I’m sorry, mia cara, but it’s a possibility.”

“Guys, it’s okay.” Exhaustion drained my vocabulary to the bare necessities. “It’s not your problem. Go home. I’ll clean up.”

“I’ll help.” Sloane grabbed a trash bag.

“No,” I said firmly. “You’ve done enough.”

“But— ”

“You can’t— ”

Despite their protests, I forced my friends out the door minutes later. I appreciated their concern, but I wanted to be alone.

I went through the motions of throwing out trash and storing leftovers in the fridge. It was like watching someone cosplay me; she looked like me and moved like me, but she didn’t feel like me. She was a stranger cosplaying my dream life.

I paused in front of the collage I’d spent weeks painstakingly creating. It took up the entire right wall. Bright, vibrant petals gradually faded to muted browns that dominated the center of the piece before a hint of color crept back into the canvas.

Life, death, rebirth. It wasn’t subtle, but I didn’t want it to be. I wanted it as a reminder of what I’d left and what I never wanted to fall back into again.

“Ále.”

My spine stiffened at the voice behind me. I should’ve locked the door, but I’d been too distracted by Dominic’s presence. My self-preservation instincts went right out the window the instant he entered the picture.

“You’re late.” I didn’t turn, afraid that if I did, I would start crying and never stop.

“Sweetheart— ”

“No, wait. That’s wrong.” Disillusionment splintered the rhythm of my words. “You’re not late; you never showed. The party is over, Dominic. You don’t need to be here.”

“Yes, I do.” His presence brushed my back, heavy with regret, and I closed my eyes against a fall of tears as his hand gently touched my arm. “Because you’re here.”

“Then where were you before? Were you at work?”

Silence.

“Yes or no, Dominic.”

Another, deeper silence chipped at the pieces of my heart. Then, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him, “Yes.”

A tear dripped off my chin, and the browns in the centerpiece blurred into one amorphous monster that colored every shade of my world.

When would I learn?

“But it’s not what you think.”

His hands grasped my shoulders, and he turned me around, meeting my anguished eyes with his own. Desperation sculpted his face. “I wanted to be here, amor. I swear. I was on my way when… God, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”